Chuck Grassley is Destroying a 100-year Senate Tradition to Help Trump Pack the Courts

Senator Chuck Grassley, as head of the Judiciary Committee, has scheduled confirmation hearings for two contested Trump judicial nominees, overriding 100 years of Senate tradition.

Donald Trump has already nominated several extremely conservative judges to fill the vacancies in the court system. But he can’t single-handedly push through nominees—the Senate has to sign off on them.

There’s a little-known process called “blue slips” that lets individual senators weigh in on the judges nominated to serve in their state. It’s a key part of the checks and balances that protect against absolute power in the hands of the president.

David Stras and Kyle Duncan are two Trump judicial nominees, and neither of them have received positive blue slips from both of their home senators. Normally, this would mean that those nominees don’t move forward. Yet Senator Chuck Grassley has announced a hearing for both Stras and Duncan. This will mean abandoning 100 years of tradition and eliminating a key check on Trump’s power. We can’t let that happen.

WHAT ARE BLUE SLIPS?

The Constitution requires the President to seek the Senate’s “advice and consent” on judicial nominations. As part of this process, the Senate holds hearings to evaluate the nominees, then votes on whether or not to confirm them.

Home-state Senators are allowed to weigh-in on judicial nominations. One key tradition as part of the Senate’s “advice and consent” process is that the two senators representing the nominee’s state are given “blue slips”—actual blue pieces of paper on which they can register support or concerns about the nominee. This has been the custom in the Senate for a century.

Traditionally, judicial nominees don’t move forward for hearings and confirmation unless both senators return positive blue slips.With only three exceptions, the Senate has respected this tradition for 100 years and refused to advance nominees without buy-in from each home state senator. In fact, a judge has never been confirmed over the objections of both home state senators.

Republicans frequently withheld their blue slips in order to block judicial nominees during the Obama administration - and both Democrats and Republicans respected that process. No Obama administration district or court nominee received a Judiciary Committee hearing unless both home state senators returned positive blue slips for them, even when Democrats were in charge. That’s why there were more than 120 vacancies to fill when Trump took office.

Now that we’re under the Trump administration, Democrats are using the blue slips process to resist the nominations of Trump’s most ideological judges - and Republicans are suddenly objecting.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

Our democracy rests on a system of checks and balances. The blue slips process is an important mechanism that ensures that the American people, through their senators, have a say in which judges serve in their state. Federal judgeships are for life and make decisions that affect everyone—it is crucial that unqualified and problematic nominees don’t get the job.

The Trump administration has already demonstrated a contempt for the court system and a disrespect for the integrity of our democratic norms. If the Senate were to cave on blue slips, it would set terrible precedent that could allow this and future administrations to jam through controversial judicial nominees and override the concerns of the American people.

THIS ISN’T A HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO

The Senate is moving forward on the nominations of David Stras and Kyle Duncan even though their home-state senators have not positively returned both blue slips.

Senators are using the blue slip process exactly as it is intended, to review the merit of judicial nominees, and to register any concerns they may have. This isn’t obstruction - it’s the constitutional practice of “advice and consent” in action.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be hearing from right-wing groups and their donors, urging them to fully abandon the blue slips tradition and advance Trump’s nominees no matter what.

SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Senators need to speak up right now. The far right will be clamoring to abolish the blue slip process, and it’s essential for us to push back. This is one of the few mechanisms in place that allow senators to block bad nominees from moving forward, and it must be preserved.

Call your senators. Ask them to publicly urge Chairman Grassley and Majority Leader McConnell to respect the blue slips process, and ask them to do everything in their power to halt proceedings on Stras, Duncan and any other nominees unless both home senators have returned positive blue slips for them. It’s a simple equation: no blue slips = no hearings.

SAMPLE SCRIPT

Caller: Hi! My name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [part of state]. I’m calling about David Stras and Kyle Duncan, Trump’s judicial nominees who are receiving a hearing even though neither have two positive blue slips from each home senator. I’m very concerned at the deeply conservative and ideological nominees that Trump is attempting to put in the courts, and I’m even more concerned that the Senate might break tradition to let him do it. Does Senator [name] oppose these nominations and support respecting the blue slips process??

Staffer: I’m not sure if Senator [name] has a firm position on that issue, but I’ll be sure to share your concerns with [him/her].

Caller: I think it’s very straightforward—while Obama was president, no judicial nominees moved forward until both home senators returned positive blue slips, which are documents with their thoughts on the nominee. This has been a Senate tradition for 100 years—Senator [name] will continue to support that tradition by opposing the Stras and Duncan nominations, right?

Staffer: Again, I’ll have to speak with the senator but will make sure [he/she] is aware of your perspective.

Caller: I want to hear the Senator commit to uphold this process and publicly urge Chairman Grassley to respect it, too. The Constitution requires the Senate to give “advice and consent” on judicial nominees, and this a key part of the system of checks and balances. If we abandon this, we could be in real trouble this and future presidents.

Staffer: I will relay that to the senator.

Caller: Thank you, I’ll be looking for the senator’s statement in support of the blue slips process and [his/her] opposition to the Stras and Duncan nominations, and all of Trump’s nominations that don’t respect this process.

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